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Awareness
Awareness represents the character’s general awareness of his surroundings and the ability to notice inconsistencies that others might dismiss. It encompasses a basic alertness to any changes that might be detected by the senses, including visual cues, sounds, odours, and even air pressure. A highly-trained observer is just as capable of noticing and identifying the presence of a new factor as they are the absence of a common one. Threats to the Mankind can lurk in the shadows of any location, and often the subtlest of cues can reveal far deeper meanings. In general, Awareness is used when trying to spot items or individuals that are either hidden or not easy to notice. Scrutiny (see page 114) is used to interpret hidden emotions, motivations, or other undercurrents. So while spotting someone hidden would be Awareness, determining whether someone is lying or being deceitful would be Scrutiny. When Awareness is used against an opponent (such as to spot an ambush) it is an Opposed test (see page 24). Awareness opposes and is opposed by Stealth Special Uses for Awareness Lip Reading Lip reading allows an Acolyte to effectively understand a conversation even though he cannot hear it. The character must have a clear view of the speaker’s mouth and understand the language used by the target. The difficulty of this test is modified –10 for every 10 metres of distance between the character and the speaker. The GM can assign other penalties for darkness, fog, or other factors affecting vision; magnoculars or other vision enhancing devices can help offset this penalty or provide a bonus. A successful Awareness skill test reveals the general gist of the conversation, such as talking about a drop point or the location of a cult gathering. Additional degrees of success reveal correspondingly more information. The character need not make a skill test every round, as one degree of success is enough to follow the conversation for the span of roughly one topic. The GM determines when a new test is necessary. When to use Awareness as a GM The GM can call on a player to use the Awareness skill when They are walking into an ambush or being spied upon by a hidden foe, when they want to search an area for clues or find a hidden item, or when they are trying to eavesdrop on a conversation/there is a chance of overhearing some pertinent information. Some example modifiers include. * +30: Detecting the approach of a rumbling tank or spotting a clearing containing a large heretical shrine from the air. * +20: Detecting a large creature’s passage or noticing a vehicle behind a large pile of rubble. * +10: Detecting a small item in the open or spying a hidden outpost. * +0: Spotting someone in a tavern or searching a hab-room. * –10: Detecting a well-laid ambush or searching a building for a specific datafile. * –20: Finding a specific spent bolt round on a battlefield, or picking a heretic out of a crowded hive gathering. * –30: Noticing an assassin in a darkened room or searching through planetary-wide records for a small void ship's manifest.